


Gradual Karma

by Stewbacca94



Series: RWBY Reddit Ramblings [7]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Body Horror, Character Turned Into a Ghost, Curses, Supernatural Elements, Transformation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-27
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-11-06 10:03:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17937722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stewbacca94/pseuds/Stewbacca94
Summary: Actions have consequences. Sometimes immediate, sometimes not. Cinder Fall learns this the hard way.





	Gradual Karma

****

###  **Gradual Karma**

It was the first full moon since the attack on Beacon Academy, and Cinder was in an unusual amount of pain. Sure, losing her left arm and eyesight and most of her speech was painful enough, but the added pain was like a kettle that had remained on the boil for too long. It was hot, unpredictable and ready to burst.

"Grnngh," Cinder croaked as the pain writhed throughout her body like a tidal wave. She felt it zip around her muscles and bones, before finally settling on the stump of her left arm.

Cinder cringed and whimpered as the pain began to grow in magnitude, ever surging higher and higher until  _something_ burst and the stump tore itself open. Cinder screamed silently as her left arm slowly remade itself, knitting her blood into skin, then muscles and ligaments, and finally the nerves and bones. Her newly-remade arm cracked time and time again as each bone was snapped into place, and Cinder was in tears from all the pain by the time her arm was complete.

Managing to open her eye at that point, Cinder noticed that her arm was paler than her tanned skin, and a bit more muscular than she remembered. But that didn't matter; Cinder had been restored, and the pain was gone.

* * *

A month later, Cinder was doing much better. Her arm hadn't changed to match the rest of her body, but her combat prowess and Maiden powers were intact. Salem, however, had decided to help Cinder recover her voice before sending her on any missions. Watts had gone in Cinder's place to manhandle Lionheart once again, while Hazel had left to deal with the White Fang and Tyrian had been sent to capture the brat that had injured her.

Finally finishing her training, she bid Emerald and Mercury goodnight before retiring to her chambers. Disrobing, Cinder began to lie down with a glass of water in her bed before she felt a twinge in her throat. Cinder coughed, trying to dislodge the twinge, and made the twinge worse. She grabbed the glass and downed half of it gently, and was rewarded with a prompt case of heartburn and nausea.

 _OH NO_ , Cinder realised before running to the sink in her room. She held her hair back and  _retched_  into the sink, releasing the last of the Parasitic Grimm's remains that had resided in her body since ambushing the previous Fall Maiden.

After recuperating, Cinder felt no pain or tightness along her throat, and found herself able to project her voice without any difficulty. However, a glance at the mirror made Cinder's blood run cold. The rest of her naked body had turned pale, to match her newly reformed arm.

"Salem will need to hear about this soon," she surmised, before going to bed.

Throughout her sleep, Cinder was restless, always tossing and turning as her body twinged all over. Rationalising that her body was still adjusting to the lack of Grimm in her system, Cinder thought nothing of it and persevered.

The following morning, Salem was awoken by a scream from Cinder's quarters. She teleported into the room, to find that Cinder's skin had gone pale, and her muscle tone had increased overnight. Cinder's hair, however, was the biggest change; her cap of charcoal hair had ballooned in size, and began to take on the barest hint of auburn in colour.

"What's happened to you, Cinder?", Salem asked quasi-maternally.

And Cinder told her everything.

* * *

"What this seems to be," Salem reasoned a quarter of an hour later, "is something that I saw happen when I was still human, many millennia ago. Whenever two magicians duelled, resulting in a dishonourable kill, the winner of that bout ran a risk of being possessed by the loser, and slowly turning into that person every full moon until there was no distinguishing from the original. At that point, the winner would be dead to the world, and the loser would live again.  _Reiko's Revenge_ , I believe the condition was called."

Cinder then had a painful epiphany.

"I - I remember what might be causing this; I got attacked by Pyrrha Nikos, Ozpin's intended candidate of the Fall Maiden, shortly after killing Ozpin himself. Her murder wasn't fair by any stretch of the imagination."

"How did you best her?"

"After breaking her aura, I fired a Dust-forged arrow at her. She tossed her shield and broke it, only for me to reform the arrow behind the shield and pierce her ankle. I then shot her again in the heart and cremated her with it."

"I see," Salem responded.

There was a long pause, before Cinder decided to address the Goliath in the room.

"Is this fixable?"

Salem placed her head into her left hand tiredly. "No. Even my skill cannot fix this. Only a master magician could've gone and done that, and Ozpin wouldn't help you with this either."

For the first time in her twenty eight years, Cinder felt genuine fear. Salem picked up on it too, and tried to assauge it.

"Fear not, Cinder," she said calmly. "I'll let you, Mercury and Emerald leave my company to deal with this. There's a chance that you could reassert yourself, so I'll allow you to do it wherever you please."

Cinder looked towards her master. "I'd like to go home. Show Mercury and Emerald around there before I lose myself."

Salem nodded in understanding. "As you wish. Feel free to leave whenever you're ready."

Cinder turned to leave, before hugging Salem. "Thank you, for giving me a chance to become powerful."

Despite herself, Salem returned the hug. "And thank you, for being so successful in laying Beacon low."

* * *

A month later, and Cinder was laying low in the lawless town of Windpath, north of Mistral proper. Emerald and Mercury stood guard over the townhouse that Cinder was raised in, before she murdered her father for abusing her mother to the point of suicide. The full moon was set to rise tonight, meaning that Cinder had one last chance to fight Pyrrha's spirit off.

As Cinder put on her nightgown at six in the evening, she came to the lounge room, where Emerald and Mercury were posted.

"You ready to take this ghost down?", Mercury asked first.

Despite herself, Cinder chuckled slightly. "As ready as I'll ever be. I just wanted to say something to the pair of you."

"Go for it," Mercury encouraged while Emerald looked to her expectantly.

"After tonight, there's two ways we go from here. Either I'll remain in control of myself and we return to Salem's fold, or I ... well, leave this world and Pyrrha arrives again."

"Cinder," Emerald asked, "what would you want us to do to Pyrrha if she comes back?"

"I've given that some careful consideration," the Fall Maiden admitted, "and I'll tell you my answer. Deliver Pyrrha back to her team without fuss; after all, she'll use the Maiden powers to kill the pair of you if you try restraining her."

"And what about the two of us?", Mercury enquired. "What should  _Emerald and I_  do if Pyrrha comes back?"

After a lengthy pause, Cinder responded. "Either return to Salem, side against her, or stay out of the fight; whatever the two of you want. But don't make that choice lightly."

"Sounds fair," Mercury admitted.

"We'll think about it tonight," Emerald affirmed.

"Good to hear," Cinder concluded. "And one last thing ... I just want to say that the two of you are the two most loyal, hardworking people I've ever met. Whilst I treated the pair of you as means to an end before, I now consider you two to be my friends. Whatever happens tonight, know that I've grown to care about you two deeply, and your assistance won't go unrewarded if I survive."

Mercury was stunned to hear that; it wasn't everyday that he'd been referred to in such kind terms by anyone before, after all. Emerald was on the verge of tears as reality stared her hopes down.

"I - I'll miss you if you go, Cinder," she sobbed as she hugged Cinder. Cinder returned the hug with an expression of melancholy acceptance, as Mercury approached to shake her hand.

"Working with you has been a pleasure," he said earnestly. "I can only hope for more good times to come."

"Likewise," Cinder replied with a small smile, before walking into the bedroom and preparing for the showdown.

* * *

_You murdered me_.

The voice thundered in her head as Cinder woke up with a start at the stroke of ten.

"Wh - where did that come from?", she whispered in surprise.

 _I'm the voice within your head, Cinder_.

"I'm just hearing things," she grumpily averred as she began to lie down. Pyrrha's spirit, however, had different ideas. The solitary candle Cinder had left on suddenly erupted into a ball of flames. Cinder reared back from it as the ball stretched and warped to form a humanoid figure. Fine details etched themselves into the mould, and before long, Cinder was staring at the soul of Pyrrha Nikos.

 _Oh, I'm looking forward to this_ , Pyrrha broadcasted into her mind.  _Consider this gradual karma for the lives you've stolen from this world_.

"Is there an alternative I can give you?!", Cinder exclaimed.

The girl's soul smiled. Nastily.

 _No_.

Pyrrha's astral form stretched out her hand, and Cinder felt her soul begin to tear at the seams. An unimaginable amount of pain ensued as Cinder felt herself wrenched away from her body's moorings, dragging ever closer to Pyrrha. The last thing Cinder's soul saw before it ceased to exist was the vicious smile on Pyrrha's face as her mouth opened to swallow her whole.

And Cinder Fall was no more.

Pyrrha's soul then held her hand out to the cooling body that Cinder had left behind for her. The left side of the face was repaired within seconds, her hair changed to become bright auburn, and the armour Pyrrha had worn in life manifested from Cinder's nightgown. A pair of rusty blades in the corner of the room, designed to go together like a bow when needed, melted into a bubble as Pyrrha reforged them into Milo and Akouo, altering the alloy composition, tensile strength and appearance from eidetic memory.

Finally, the body drew Pyrrha into it's moorings. Her vengeance complete, Pyrrha let herself fall into her newly-remade body. Sleep claimed her instantly as her soul and body were reunited at long last.

* * *

The following morning, Emerald and Mercury were awoken by a yawn that sounded too light. They were halfway to the room when the door burst open, and their worst fears were confirmed.

"She ... she's gone," Mercury muttered in surprise, while Emerald began to sob uncontrollably as Pyrrha Nikos strode out in her full regalia. Recognising Mercury and Emerald straight away, Pyrrha readied her aura and drew her weapons.

"WAIT!" Mercury shouted. "We surrender!"

Pyrrha paused. "You're not having me on with another illusion?"

Mercury's expression went sour. "You think Emerald would fake crying over the person that rescued her from poverty?"

Pyrrha then realised that the Fall Maiden's powers had increased her Semblance's range of abilities - metal, rock, sand and wood were hers to manipulate now. Using her feet, she felt Mercury and Emerald standing where they were, and nodded.

"You have a point," she agreed. "What happens now?"

"We're going to find your friends," Mercury vowed, "and we're going to take Salem on alongside you."

"As Cinder herself wanted us to do," Emerald added.

An expression of surprise arranged itself on Pyrrha's face, before Pyrrha's confident and determined bearing returned.

"Very well. Let's get cracking."


End file.
